Having ridden horses from the age of 7 I have spent a large amount of time at my local stables and horses’ welfare is something that is extremely important to me. Due to this I have considered a future career in the industry and horse racing is one of a multitude of paths I could take. The topic of horse racing is quite controversial when it comes to focusing on the well-being of these animals which leads me to the question- does horse racing have the horses’ best interest at heart?

There are many anti horse racing groups such as: Animal Aid and League against Cruel Sports. They strongly believe that horse racing should be banned as it can be considered cruel to these beautiful animals. When you look at the number of deaths in the grand national which is just one race among 10,000 races per year, it has led to the death of 55 horses since the year 2,000. Of course, there are a vast number of horses who suffer with injuries which are not included in this statistic and perhaps, more worryingly, injuries caused by the misuse of whips to encourage the horses to run faster when they are already exhausted; please note that horses are the only animals who can be beaten in public for entertainment. Some injuries can be seen on the horse’s flesh, however, there are also effects on the horse’s mental state. There have also been cases where owners will drug their horses to enable them to cope with the pain during the race, even though there are rules and drug testing procedures there is always a chance of new drugs passing these tests. Whip and drug misuse is so common is partially due to the fact that owners and trainers are under a lot of pressure to make money not only from prize money but through gambling on races that their horses are involved in.

 

In contrast, there are many supporters of horse racing. These people strongly believe that many horses are looked after to a high standard and have a good diet, kept fit, protected against the elements and loved by their owners and trainers. In fact, some go as far to say that these horses involved in horse racing are better looked after than humans! It is clear for anyone to see whether they are for or against horse racing when jockeys fall off or the horse trips over at a hurdle they will get up and continue to run and try to beat the other horses. If they didn’t enjoy racing they wouldn’t do this. Horses are bred to race and have been for hundreds of years and the bottom line is that horses are pack animals do have a herd mentality. Even the most strong supporters of horse racing acknowledge that the misuse of whips can be detrimental to the welfare of horses, with this in mind they point to new whip use guidelines that have come into force earlier this year. There have been two new rules which include: the jockeys are only able to use their whip a maximum of 7 times in a race and they cannot raise their arm above shoulder height when using the whip. If these rules are broken jockeys, trainers and owners can face bans from racing and financial penalties. There are roughly 6,000 people employed in the horse industry that take care of them to ensure these animals are looked after to a high standard. With the ban of horse racing many thousands would be affected by unemployment such as stable lads, vets, jockeys, trainers and many more. As well as the 20,000 plus horses that would be left with no-one to look after, protect or care for them.

Thankfully, for safety in horse racing, there is a body called The British Horse Racing Authority, or the BHA, ensure horse welfare in horse racing in adhered to. In fact, they go as far to say that, “horse welfare is the priority in British Racing”. The BHA have improved standards by have bringing in reduced whip use and whole life care to all horses in the racing industry which ensures that horses from 30 days old are looked after until the end of their life.

I feel that as long as these regulations remain in place and are monitored regularly including by members of anti-racing groups as well as pro racing groups the horse racing world can continue to put on horse-racing and still have horses welfare at heart.